It will go down in the books as yet another points win in his career, but Thomas Patrick Ward was forced to put in work in order to preserve his unbeaten record.

The rising contender from County Durham, England prevailed via unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Martin Casillas in their eight round bout fought above the featherweight limit Friday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Scores were 80-71 across the board for Ward (29-0, 4KOs), who overcame a mid-rounds cut to drop his stubborn foe in the final round to seal the victory.

“He’s a tough fighter, never been stopped before,” Ward acknowledged during his post-fight interview. “I had to dig hard for this victory.”

Ward was in control for the most part, offering rapid fire combinations to keep the shorter and stubbier Casillas (20-12-1, 10KOs) at bay. It worked through the first four rounds, but Casillas found a way inside midway through round five, creating the type of drama with which Ward has grown accustomed to dealing throughout his young career. A right hand upstairs opened up a cut around Ward’s left eye, hardly a new occurrence and which ultimately never became a factor in the fight.

Ward reclaimed momentum in round six and never looked back. The only question heading into the final round was whether the modest hitting Brit—who’d only stopped four of his previous 28 opponents to date—could become the first to stop the 31-year old Mexican journeyman. It threatened to occur, when a well placed left hook to the body by Ward forced Casillas to take a knee at center ring.

Casillas managed to beat the count and spend the rest of the fight remaining upright, but failing to make an impression on the judges at any point of the contest.

Ward picks up his fourth win of 2019, a year which began with his fighting for a regional title at junior featherweight, where he remains ranked by two sanctioning bodies. Each of his past three starts have taken place well above the 122-pound limit.

The bout streamed live on ESPN+ in the United States, in supporting capacity to 140-pound mandatory challenger Jack Catterall (24-0, 13KOs) in a stay busy fight versus Germany’s Timo Schwarzkopf (20-3, 12KOs)

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox